Foundations laid for £252m waste-to-energy centre

The foundations are being laid for a £252 million Resource Recovery Centre (RRC) near Bristol.

Waste management firm Viridor says its upcoming facility in Avonmouth is taking shape, with concrete piles being put into place to create a solid base for the main development.

Once operational, the site is expected to be able to turn non-recyclable waste from households and businesses into enough renewable energy to power around 44,000 homes, rather than sending it to landfill.

More than 130 contractors are currently working at the site and the project has spent more than £2 million in the local economy.

Eight other Viridor energy recovery facilities are already operating in the UK and three more are under construction or planned.

Mickey Green, Managing Director of the Somerset Waste Partnership, which is working with Viridor, said: “The Avonmouth RRC forms the cornerstone of our ambitions to help Somerset residents to waste less, recycle even more and – for whatever is left over – switch from a reliance on landfill to resource recovery from 2020.”